Dre wins royalties claim against Death Row

May 2011

CONTRACTArtists, record labels

Dr Dre has won a royalties lawsuit against Death Row Records in relation to his 1992 debut album ‘The Chronic’, Dre sued the label over digital sales of the album arguing that Death Row did not have permission to sell ‘The Chronic’ digitally, while also claiming he hadn’t been paid proper royalties on the record since 1996. The Federal Court agreed, saying that the digital release breached the label’s agreement with the rapper as it needed Dre’s permission and District Judge Christina Snyder ordered that 100% of the profits from digital sales of ‘The Chronic’ should go to Dre. A separate part of the same lawsuit, claiming Death Row was guilty of false advertising and trademark infringement for re-releasing the physical version of ‘The Chronic’, was dismissed last year.http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1662444/dr-dre-the-chronic-lawsuit-death-row-records.jhtml